There have been multiple customers who have voiced concern that the Configuration-only export feature is gone. It has not. Configuration-only export is still very much present in Hyper-V in R2. It just so happens that we have taken the option out from the UI. The user can still utilize this capability via the API.

This brings us to the next question: “Why did you take it out of the UI?” The main motivation behind taking it out of the UI is that the user would not be able to easily import such a VM through the UI. Given our import UI, there is no way for the user to specify the locations of the VHD files during import. Ideally, we would have had an import wizard or the like where the user could specify the location of all the VHD files before launching the import process. However, short of that, it is best not to expose any of that functionality via the UI.

The ability to do a configuration-only export of a VM is available via SCVMM R2, which is built to use the new API. However, if you are not using SCVMM, you can script against that API. Here are a couple of sample scripts (VBScript) for doing the configuration-only export of a VM and for importing that VM. Many thanks to Madhan Gajendran and Dinesh Kumar Govindasamy for writing these scripts:

The VM exported above can be imported via the following script. Please note that what this script does is to provide a fine-grained control over the different parameters of import and thus can be used for importing a VM regardless of how it was exported (config-only or with VHDs). It just so happens that it is particularly useful for importing a VM that was exported config-only.

Does anyone know how to do a config only export in SCVMM R2? Spent hours searching in SCVMM and on the internet with no luck...

Ryan

27 Jul 2010 12:24 AM

There is no config-only export in SCVMM R2. I've been hoping for an update or clarification, but it turns out that the info in this post is simply incorrect.

rich

18 Oct 2010 3:41 PM

"The main motivation behind taking it out of the UI is that the user would not be able to easily import such a VM through the UI"

SO FIX THE UI SO IT IS EASY TO IMPORT!

Gaz

13 Dec 2010 11:16 AM

Again, microsoft removing functionality from the UI.

Absolutely ridiculous.

YOU ARE MEANT TO MAKE ADMINISTRATION EASIER!!!! NOT HARDER!!!

Tim

21 Jan 2011 12:20 AM

I agree. ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS to remove this functionality from the UI. Should have been improved instead of removed. Thanks big brother for making something that should be easy so difficult. Scripts... powershell....RIDICULOUS."The ability to do a configuration-only export of a VM is available via SCVMM R2" REALLY! How about a how to on that!

Tom

9 Mar 2011 7:16 PM

I Agree also, Ridiculous excuse for forgetting to include a critical function in an "UPGRADED" supposedly more mature product.

GMO

15 Mar 2011 11:34 PM

This is killing me right now. I have limited resources and depend on export config only... I may have to buy some USB HDDs to get the job done -_-

Ken

24 Mar 2011 10:25 PM

Hmm...Question: a)Leave it as it is, or b) Make it better. Microsoft's answer: c) Make it worse.

Yes, I too need the Export config only option, only to have found it mysteriously gone in R2. This was the answer to the export permissions issue (destination network folder requiring hyper-v machine account permission - no we don't all have our hyper-v servers on the domain in order to grant machine account permissions on folders) and the usual Microsoft local disk bloat.

Gaz

27 Apr 2011 1:39 PM

I find it beyond belief that MSFT finds it acceptable for us to have to mess about with .xml files, folders and other nonsense, when, vmware can just store its configuration in a single .vmk file.

why cant it just work on one file. then you copy the file and the .vhds to a new server and then import it back in.

what a load of nonsense.

Gert

21 Jun 2011 5:06 PM

Please if someone from MS is reading this please respond. We all seem to agree on this.

1) Why all the messing around with xml and linked locations that almost no one can manually edit?

2) Why removing the configonly export? I don't mind that you hide it a bit but just provide it please.

Sam

18 Jul 2011 10:32 PM

Yeah, I'm a Microsoft employee, and the fact that this feature was removed from the UI really annoys me. It would seem that our Windows product group is somewhat out of step with the consumers of our Enterprise products. Guys, if you're listening to this, please put this back in the product. Powershell is great, but please don't make something that used to be so simple, such a pain in the ***. ;-)

Curious

26 Oct 2011 8:32 PM

I am new to scripting, how do I execute these scripts? I have a Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V full host.

Yaz

28 Oct 2011 8:46 AM

One simple way (provided no snapshots) is to remove the vhd's (remember where they are located), do the export, and then add them back in again.

You can't do it if you have a snapshot, because you are only removing the avhd - the vhd will still be copied.